


After Logan: Rogue and X-23

by WonderlandWriter13



Category: Wolverine (Movies), Wolverine and the X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:14:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22469227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderlandWriter13/pseuds/WonderlandWriter13
Summary: After returning to New York to find Xavier's school in the hands of the government and her family gone, Rogue spends the next year on her own with no hope of seeing anyone from the X-Men again. She fades into the background where she expects to stay until news of strange events in Oklahoma City bring her from the shadows.Seeking out perhaps the last mutants like herself, Rogue begins to track down Logan and Professor X with hope of reuniting with them. But as time passes she goes from tracking Logan to tracking someone very similar to him, bringing her face to face with more loss and the struggle of finding her place in a world where mutants are no longer a symbol of the future, but a symbol of a tragic past.⚠️Based off the X-Men movies⚠️Set after the events of the movie Logan
Relationships: Bobby Drake/Rogue, Remy LeBeau/Rogue
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Comic Book Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> This story is mainly based off the X-Men movies but I will pull some things from the comics as well!

The day Logan started fading Rogue pushed herself to exhaustion.

The car she had stolen was miles behind on the plains with no gas remaining. The moment it stopped Rogue didn't pause, sliding out and continuing on foot. She must have only gone a mile when she felt it. The strength of his mind lessening considerably. 

She stumbled, startled at how harshly it shrank away from her. Rogue froze, disoriented in the burning sun trying to get her thoughts in order. Of course he'd been fading for years but it had never been this sudden. 

She squinted as it fell into place. It was a reasonable conclusion for anyone except for Logan. Rogue collapsed to her knees in shock.

She didn't believe it. She couldn't believe it. She hadn't come all this way to discover that he....

Angry, Rogue pushed to her feet. He wasn't. He couldn't be. It had to be due to something else. Logan wasn't gone.

Later, she crawled into an abandoned gas station cursing the heat that seemed to radiate from everything. She had little water left and there had been a sign for a rest stop some miles ahead but she couldn't make it any farther tonight. She had pushed herself too hard after that first mile.

The door was in no condition to keep other people, or animals out but after dragging over one shelf she didn't have any energy to drag over a second one. 

Curling up in a dusty corner Rogue hoped for a few precious hours of sleep. She didn't want to rest long, she had to keep going and the longer she waited the quicker the trail went cold. She hated the delay but couldn't fight the facts. She needed rest.

As she started to drift she had one last thought: exhaustion was a gift because she didn't have to fight for sleep.

~

Sweat gathered in her palms and ran down the back of her neck. The gloves Hank made for her were supposed to be breathable but they'd been running for so long that she was burning. 

Her lungs and legs. Her feet and arms. Whenever she felt like collapsing she looked at Bobby who never slowed and kept her going with just a glance. 

It felt as though they were running endlessly. They passed what looked like the same doors and took what felt like the same turns. 

They wouldn't make it. She could feel it. They couldn't run and fight at the same time and there would be no avoiding a fight. Their pursuers we're catching up to them.

"Bobby-"

"Just a little farther." He gasped.

A little farther felt like ten miles but suddenly there was the door. They slid to a halt. 

"I'll get it open." He said, raising his hands as the steps of their followers grew louder. 

Rogue kept her back to the door while he worked ice between the cracks, her eyes scanning the dim corridor. 

"I got it."

"They're coming." She replied, shapes emerging from the shadows. 

Behind her she heard the door groan as it was forced open. 

"Let's go." Bobby took her hand but she didn't move.

"They're coming Bobby." She said again. "We can't out run them anymore." And they couldn't fight all of them either. 

He pulled her hand. "Rogue." She didn't move. "Rogue."

She spared a moment to glance at him, letting herself be pulled towards the exit. "We won't make it Bobby." 

He shook his head. "We'll make it. Rogue, we'll make it."

She glanced back at their pursuers. "How?" She asked softly.

He didn't bat an eye at her question. "You trust me?"

She glanced harshly at him. "Of course."

"Then this is how we survive." Bobby said and he placed his hands on her face.

She felt him instantly. His power and his mind. "Bobby no!" Rogue grabbed his arms, fighting to push him away.

He held on, his skin against hers. "I'll give you as much as I can." He said weakly, his face strained with the effort of holding on.

Rogue pulled as hard as she could. "Let me go!" She pushed at his chest, his face and arms. "Let me go..."

They were almost upon them. 

"You can't fight them like this." She said, tears clouding her eyes. "You won't-"

He staggered, nearly falling to his knees. "Rogue." Bobby wouldn't look away from her eyes. "I love you."

And he let go. A wall of ice separated them. And then she was falling.

~

Rogue woke with a start, her stomach in her chest. A thin layer of ice coated her hands while the rest of her body was sweating. 

She sat up, brushing away the ice as quickly as she could. Her body trembled, muscles tense. She didn't use his mutation. She hadn't used it since the day he had saved her. That had been the only time she needed to.

Rogue took a deep breath followed by another. She'd been trying to escape that memory for months but it was always buried somewhere inside her mind. Just like Bobby was. And Logan. And everyone else she had ever touched. Carrying them with her was her burden.

Exhaling, Rogue finished fighting back the minds and memories and stood from her place on the floor. The day was only just beginning, a slice of a purple-red dawn finding it's way through a crack. She ate quickly, using up the last of her rations. She saved the water for the miles ahead.

She would have to find a new car soon. It was still seventy miles to the hotel and after that she had a feeling she'd be on a longer road. 

Rogue pushed on through the early morning, gazing at the rising sun. "Where are you Logan?" She whispered. Nothing had changed in her mind since yesterday which eased and also increased her worry for him. He was fine, wasn't he?

She hadn't known what to do when she made it back to New York without Bobby. She returned to find the school closed and under government control. People were saying that a powerful mutant had killed or injured everyone who had lived there. With only his mind.

At first Rogue didn't believe it. She thought it had to be some lie the government had spread so they could take the school and everyone who lived there. But then she heard that the mutant was wanted, on the run, and with another mutant who had somehow survived. Rogue could only think of one mutant who could have survived.

The Professor couldn't be on the run by himself and Logan was the only one who could've helped him. 

Rogue had tried to imagine how hard it been for Logan after what happened at the house. It was a year later and she still hadn't figured out how she felt about what the Professor had done. She knew it had been an accident because he would never hurt anyone intentionally but none of that could change the fact of what happened. Was there no way for him to have known such a thing could be possible? 

Rogue had come back with nothing only to find that her family was gone and that her home was taken from her. She felt more alone in those months than when her mutation manifested and she tried to run away from it. 

She knew about running. She knew about wanting to run and what it was like to be too afraid to make connections with people she knew she would hurt. Yet, she also knew about wanting a home and defending and caring for it when she found it. But she had lost that too so she was running again with nothing more than desperation and the news of an incident at a hotel to guide her. 

She didn't want to be alone anymore. The past year had been a struggle, trying to live without being noticed or being suspicious. Rogue wasn't wanted, no mutants were in America -if there were any remaining- but there were plenty of private companies and scientists that wouldn't ignore a mutant if they saw one. 

So Rogue had faded into the background and then she faded into legend as a hero who fought against evil with the other X-Men who were now gone. But she knew, no matter how popular the stories became, the fictional version of herself wouldn't ever get people to accept the real version of who she was. So she dyed her hair. She changed her style. Rogue avoided wearing gloves as often, as long as she wasn't in close quarters with other people and she rarely was. 

She drifted day to day, alone and empty as she mourned the people she had lost, wondering if she would ever find Logan and the Professor. Rogue didn't bother to look because if there was anyone better than her at running, it was Logan. She had given up hope in seeing them again until a week ago when she heard on the news that at a hotel casino in Oklahoma City an incident had occurred that rendered all the guests and staff paralyzed for nearly five minutes. 

Rogue didn't think about it. She just got in a car and left, heading straight for Oklahoma. She drove for days, estimating that she was about a week behind Logan and Xavier.

Now, she squinted in the sun and sighed in relief when her eyes spotted the rest stop on the horizon. Reluctantly she pulled out long gloves from the backpack slung across her back and slipped them on. The heat increased immediately while wearing them and she found herself missing the lightweight ones that had gone with her suit but she had burned both a year ago.

The gas station was unexpectedly well kept and situated across a small squat store with a restaurant attached. There were a handful of cars around, Rogue noted at least two that would be easy to steal and would get her far. 

The air in the gas station felt like bliss. An air conditioner hummed unforgivingly as it successfully fought off the heat that was outside. She took note of the customers and clerk as it had become part of her everyday routine. 

There was a bored looking girl behind the register staring out the window and an elderly couple by the maps talking quietly. The only other person was a tall, fair haired guy about the same age as Rogue by the drinks. Noting nothing suspicious she headed straight for the beverages. 

Rogue took as much water that she could reasonably carry if she ended up on foot and then grabbed a few more if the car worked out as she hoped. When she reached the counter she had two baskets filled with water, painkillers and band-aids, beef jerky, energy bars, peanuts and sunflower seeds, some string cheese and candy. 

The clerk spared Rogue no glance and rang her up at an agonizing pace. Only halfway through the first basket a line had formed behind Rogue consisting of the beverage guy and the elderly couple. She tapped her fingers on the counter impatiently, growing more and more uncomfortable. The longer it took the more the man behind stared at her. 

When she finally paid Rogue snatched up the bags and left, almost missing the fact that the guy abandoned his drinks to follow her into the heat. She went straight to the truck she had decided to steal and tossed the bags in the back. She figured that the couple was too old to climb into it and the guy behind her lacked the money to have bought it so it had to belong to someone not currently present.

Supplies safe in the bed Rogue turned to face her follower. "What do you want?" She asked, wanting him to disappear so she didn't have a witness to her theft. 

He ignored the irritated tone completely and continued to stare but not at her face. His eyes flicked from her head to her gloves and back again.

Going from irritated to nervous Rogue crossed her arms. "Can I help you?"

The guy finally met her eyes and all she saw there was awe and shock. "You're- you're...." He trailed off as if he couldn't speak properly, his mouth continuing to move silently.

"I'm what?" Rogue asked cautiously, eyes scanning the area for anyone who might see them. There was no one in sight.

He gawked even more when she spoke again. "You're her. You're one of them." Eye's on her gloves he whispered. "Rogue."

A chill raced down her back. Rogue grabbed his arm before she she could think, yanking him around the side of the gas station and out of sight. "Who are you?" She demanded, throwing him against the wall. "How do you know about me?" Her eyes scanned the desert around them again and again turned up with nothing. She gave his arm a twist. 

"Ow! Ow! Jeez!" He struggled against her grip. "It-it was the hair!" He exclaimed nervously. She tightened her grip. "And-and the fact that it's a thousand degrees outside and no one in their right mind would be wearing gloves!"

Her hair? Rogue let him go and yanked at the strands she wore tied away from her face. Dirty blonde with white roots stood out against the rest of her dyed black hair. She swore. She had dyed it a week ago but the white didn't take to the dye like the rest of her hair and it faded quickly, more so in the sun it seemed. 

She looked back at the guy who hadn't moved an inch. "How do you know about me?" Rogue repeated. 

He blinked and when he didn't say anything she reached for her glove threateningly. 

"Okay! Okay!" He shouted.

"Be quiet!" She told him, looking around nervously. 

"Okay." The guy repeated, raising his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I got excited." He squinted at her like he couldn't believe she was real. "I'm a fan."

Rogue stared. "You're a fan." She said in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" This guy read the stories?

"Yeah!" He was practically glowing with excitement. "You're Rogue, first appearing in Issue 158 with-"

"I don't care about the Issues or the stories." Rogue said flatly. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't let him leave to tell the whole world he had met her and claiming that the stories were somehow true. Inhaling sharply she realized the only option she had was something she had never done without the Professor present.

"-and honestly I can't believe I'm meeting you. I never would have thought I'd see you at a gas station in Oklahoma!" He paused a moment and she figured it was to take a breath so he could continue rushing on but now he looked thoughtful. "You're here with him aren't you? That's weird...I didn't read anything about Rogue...maybe it wa-"

She grabbed him again. "What do you mean 'him'?" Her voice shook. "Who are you talking about?"

He looked at her as if she was crazy. "W-Wolverine."

If Rogue hadn't been holding onto him she would have swayed. "Wolverine..." Her eyes snapped to his face. "Have you seen him?" She demanded.

He looked nervous now. "Hell no! Are you kidding me? If I had seen the Wol-"

She spoke over him. "What do you know? How do you know he's in Oklahoma?"

"There-there was a sighting!" The guy fumbled with his pocket and pulled out a phone, shoving it in her face. "But not here, it was in Texas by the boarder. I didn't think he'd come this way if he was by Mexico-"

She wasn't listening anymore, she was rooted to the spot. 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

In all caps across the top of the screen the question blared loudly. Beneath it were names of known mutants with poor drawings or grainy photographs by each one. A name was trending at the top coupled with a blurry photo of a man by limo at nighttime. It was fuzzy and looked as though it had been taken by a surveillance camera but it was clear that he was either holding long knives or those were metal claws. It was said to have been posted over a week ago.

Rogue reached for what little was left of Logan's mind and clung to it. He was here. He was really here.

"What is this?" She asked feeling dizzy. She let him go so she could take the phone. 

The guy didn't relax. "N-nothing really. The website has always been speculation and conspiracy based with no real proof of any of the mutants existing anywhere. I looked at it mostly out of curiosity. It must have got my email somehow because I got a notification from it when the photo was posted saying that the Wolverine was spotted in Texas. I didn't believe it at first but then..." The guy nodded to the photo she stared at. "That looks pretty real to me."

Her relief at seeing Logan was quickly replaced by fear. "This-this is dangerous." She glared at him. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is for us?!"

He shrank back. "Hey I didn't make it! And I didn't pay attention to it until now. Though I guess it is probably is dangerous..."

"What do you mean?" She asked sharply.

He spoke quickly. "Just read it, read it okay..." 

Narrowing her eyes she cautiously clicked on the grainy photo and read.

Most of it was nonsense, laughable theories and conspiracy but not all of it.

User 2234:  
Yesterday a guy ditched a fancy limo shot to hell. Brown hair + beard. muscles. My buddy swears it was him.

User 197:  
Bullshit. Heard it was an old guy with graying hair. Does that sound like Wolverine to you?

User 2165:  
Yeah rite. Your buddy don't see shit.

User 2234:  
He swears it was him. Matched old photos even though the guy looked old.

User 2165:  
He can't be old. The comics...

She ignored the rest but noted the timestamp. The top post was posted a few days after the photo.

"That limo showed up about sixty miles south of here." The guy said. "And I guess people think it has something to do with armored trucks that were in the same area." He thankfully summarized the rest of the online arguing and posts.

Rogue's mind was spinning. Armored trucks, a limo shot to hell. He'd been hiding successfully for a year, what changed? Was it because of the photo?

"It could have been him but I don't think it was. Everyone knows the Wolverine doesn't age." He sounded confident but there was a limo in the photo and a limo sixty miles from here. 

Rogue didn't know what to think of that. She thought of Logan's mind fading away from her. Maybe that was why...but how? And why was he suddenly aging now? "What's your name?" She asked suddenly.

"D-Doug." The guy stuttered, still star struck. 

"Doug. How many people do you think believe this post about Wolverine?"

Doug shrugged. "People post things they've seen or suspected and attach it to a name all the time. Most of it is bullshit-"

"It's dangerous."

"Right." Doug nodded. "Dangerous but suddenly it has a ton of credibility because a lot of people are saying the same thing."

It certainly did have credibility because sixty miles south of here was her destination. The hotel where something had caused hundreds of people to be paralyzed.

Rogue narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you didn't pay attention to it."

Doug nodded. "Well yeah but I mean...it's the Wolverine. I had to check it out."

Rogue couldn't help rolling her eyes at that and looked at the phone again. This was a lot of information but most of it were things she already knew or suspected. The hotel incident would have drawn attention but was the car shot at before or after the incident? 

She couldn't be sure and it was time to keep going and that meant she had to get rid of Doug.

Rogue wrapped a hand around the phone then slid it in her pocket. "I'm sorry but I'm taking this." 

He started to protest but froze when he saw her remove her glove. She looked at him seriously. "The more you resist the more this will hurt."

Doug backed into the wall, all excitement gone from his features. "You-you're gonna kill me." He breathed in disbelief.

Rogue took a shaky, uncertain breath. "No." And then she reached out and grabbed his arm.


	2. The Northern Boarder

The truck was a luxury with it's full gas tank and air conditioning. There were even CDs and she chose one at random for background noise. It helped drown out the newest person within her head. 

The Professor had helped her hone her mutation and open it up to possibilities she had never considered, but removing memories was taxing for she'd only done it on one other occasion. It was also disorienting when the memories featured her because it became hard to sift through her own thoughts and the ones she had taken. The edges blurred together giving Rogue a headache and she thanked herself for thinking to buy painkillers.

Two hours later she reached the hotel and circled it before going inside. She chose to park the truck on a side street near an employee entrance in case she needed a quick exit. There was no telling what she would find here -if she would find anything- but if the wrong people were aware of Logan than caution was necessary. 

She felt excited and scared- emotions reminiscent of Doug she assumed. Humans didn't usually affect her so easily but it had been a year since she had touched anyone. She needed to pull herself together.

The only hope she had at learning anything would be through the hotel surveillance footage. Her plan to access it was simple: find a security guard, knock them unconscious and take their uniform. Then she would find the monitoring room and roll back the footage to a week ago and go from there.

The first part of the plan worked with no issues. As did the second. Rouge stuffed the guard into a supply closet and got into the monitoring room alone. She pulled the hat that matched the uniform low over her face, thankful that she had something that would cover her hair. Rogue felt anxious now, but this time it was all her. 

There were too many screens to watch so she only focused on ones displaying footage by the entrances and parking. Rogue started at the beginning of the day of the incident and fast forwarded from there looking for a man in a wheelchair. About ten minuets in she saw him and played the footage in real time. There was the Professor with Logan beside him and he looked just like the website had said. Old and graying. 

Before Rogue could process what that could mean another person entered the frame. A small girl looking to be eleven or twelve followed them, a pair of pink sunglasses covering her eyes. Logan turned to her and ushered her forward, keeping her close. The girl hurried on irritably. 

Rogue paused it and squinted, searching the girl for any clues as to who she was and why she was with them. Something about her was familiar although Rogue didn't know any children and even as she continued to watch the trio enter the hotel and get a room she had no idea what to think of her.

She wanted to consider it more but the longer she was in this room the higher the chance was of getting caught. Rogue fast forwarded again, this time watching Logan exit the hotel sometime later and drive away in a battered limo. So they had been attacked before the hotel. 

The recording flew by as she waited for Logan to return but she played it when an armored truck parked out front. She watched as conspicuous men exited with heavy armor and weapons and entered the building. Rogue studied their clothing and weapons as best she could but there was no marking on them, or the truck that could give her insight into who they were. 

She watched as they disappeared onto a floor and moments later she watched as Logan returned and people started to drop in pain. Rogue was surprised when she found herself fighting tears. Watching these people collapse made her wonder. Was that what it had been like at the school? Was this the way it had happened to them?

She managed to catch sight of the truck Logan, the girl and the Professor drove away in, and then it was over. There was nothing left to see. No clues as to where they went from there. Rogue exited the old recordings, glaring through her tears. What now? How would she-

"It's in here." A voice said from the other side of the door.

Rogue jumped and dove behind a desk, forgetting her disguise. Two men entered as she laid on the carpet, looking through a crack between the desk and floor. The men weren't wearing security uniforms. Instead they wore heavy boots and cargo pants much like the men from the footage she had just watched.

"The Doc wants us to get rid of any evidence of our involvement." A gruff voice said.

The second guy scoffed. "He does realize there were hundreds of witness right?" The chair Rogue had been in seconds ago squeaked as he sat down.

"Can't do anything about that. Besides I think he believes what the old man did with his mind was distraction enough." The keys clicked above her. "All that's left is to delete the footage."

The guy in the chair sighed. "Man I'm glad I wasn't here when all that shit happened. Did you see the bodies? Stabbed and ripped to shreds."

"Be glad we weren't in the mountains either." The gruff voice replied.

"Oh I'm glad alright. After hearing what those two are capable of clean up duty is heaven."

A moment of silence passed. "Alright that's everything. Let's go."

The chair squeaked again. "They want us back in Mexico finally?"

"Yeah." The voices started fading and Rogue strained to listen. "Doc wants anyone who's left to guard the compound. There was too much public...."

She clambered from her hiding place and followed them out into the hall. It seemed like she had more to go on after all.

~

Driving through the night she wondered if 'what happened in the mountains' was before or after the hotel. She also wondered what the man had meant by 'what those two are capable of'. Did they mean Logan and the Professor? Was the Professor really helping Logan when he was so unstable? Or was it someone else? Could it be that the little girl was like them? Like her? But how could that be when a mutant hadn't been born in twenty-five years?

All Rogue had gotten was more questions and few answers. The men she was now tailing had mentioned a Doctor and from the way they talked it sounded as though Logan killed some of these people. Rogue wondered what research facility they were working for out of Mexico. It had to be one well established because it could afford armed men.

None of these conclusions were hard to come to because there was no one good involved when a mutant was discovered and the only people interested when mutants were discovered were some form of scientists. And that was using a nice term.

She felt a wave of anger as she thought about it all. Humans always ended up as the enemy. All they wanted from mutants was their power, their genes and none of who they really were. They ignored the fact that they were people because they weren't the same as humans. 

Rogue clenched the steering wheel until she couldn't feel her hands. Doctors and scientists and militaries all thought they were superior to mutants when it was the other way around. Mutants were powerful and more capable of survival than humans. But mutants were also outnumbered, scarce and didn't understand that all humans would ever do was betray them!

She felt a force of rage building up from inside her. These men didn't deserve to live when she knew how they would treat people like her. They were the powerless ones.

Rogue swerved, barely avoiding an on coming car as she fought with the mind that tried to overpower hers. She was angry at these men on her own which made it easier for his personality to come forward. 

Her mind strained against the power of his, her teeth and hands clenched at the effort of pushing him back into the depths of her mind. "Leave me be." She hissed, resisting the memory of Ellis Island and the torch.

"Damn it..." She was out of practice of controlling her mind over the others. There had been a few instances over the past year when a different mind would come forward but not to this extent. Rogue had done her best, when she could, to avoid thinking about anything related to the minds inside hers but this search was bringing everything back to the surface. Even the Statue of Liberty.

The car swerved again and she wrestled the mind into a mental box. She finally found relief but there was also the strain. It was exhausting more often than not and left her drained and Rogue couldn't be drained now or any time soon.

She struggled a little longer with her mind until she was able to focus on the next steps she would take. Getting the men to talk would be messy which meant the less people around, the better. Running them off the road in a secluded area was an option but Rogue feared damaging her car and making it noticeable. 

She still hadn't decided what she would do when their SUV exited the freeway. They parked at a truck stop that only housed one semi which was also parked with its lights off. 

Rogue drove up, stopping two spots away. One of the men headed straight for the bathroom, leaving the second one behind. He stood in the flickering lamplight, his back to her car.

After pulling on her gloves Rogue opened the door as quietly as possible and left it open behind her. She walked up to the man cautiously and he remained unaware of her presence. It had to be quick, before the second man returned. 

For the briefest second Rogue paused, assessing the man and comparing his stature to hers before she launched herself at him. 

Her elbow connected with his head, but not with enough force to knock him unconscious. He stumbled, off balance and confused, reaching for what she assumed was a weapon. Rogue grabbed his arm with one hand, and pulled his gun out with the other. 

"Don't move." She hissed.

"Who the fu-"

Rogue spun him around, slamming him against the car. "I'll be asking the questions." She felt a sense of ferocity settle over her and had to struggle to rein it in. "The mutant who ripped and slashed your friends to shreds." She said with contempt. "Where-"

He raised his hands in mock surrender and started laughing like she was crazy. "You want to find it?"

She didn't realize she hit him until after her fist struck his face. "Tell me where the mutant is."

The man spat out some blood and eyed the gun in her hands. "You got no idea who you're messin' with girly."

"I know exactly who I'm messing with."

He shook his head. "I don't mean the mutant, though I'm curious to know what you know about it."

His body slammed into the car again and she let him fall to the ground. "I said-"

"You're way off base girly." The man said with another laugh. "Thousands of miles away, not worth chasing anymore."

Thousands of miles?

"Where?"

He ignored the question. "How did you know about this? There's no one who could...." The man stared at her, head to toe. "Unless you're-"

Rogue hit him again, hearing the door of the bathroom open. "Tell me where-" 

"Hey Nick! How far out-" The second man rounded the car. Rogue lifted her eyes to his. Before he could blink she moved, kicking him in the side of the head. 

He fell to the ground and she spun back to the first man to stop him from rising. 

She bashed his head into the car and then did it again for good measure. "You're buddy over there is bleeding pretty bad." The force of her kick had cracked his head against the car and the ground. "And if I slam your head in anymore your brains will be mush." Rogue wasn't entirely focused on what she was saying anymore. She was focused on Logan. "So you're going to tell me what I want to know or I'll splatter your brains all over your car and your friend."

A hint of worry emerged on his face. "Whatever you do don't do anything weird." He blinked, his eyes going in an out of focus. "You mutants are fucking crazy."

"Then tell me what I want to know." Her eyes bore into his, an unwavering gaze that she would not break. She realized that this was all she had left. It was either this or running and she was tired of running.

"Canada." He breathed. "We lost them in Canada."

Canada. She was way off base. "When?"

He shook his head. "About two days. I wasn't there."

Two days ahead in Canada and she was by Mexico. 

"That's what I know lady, don-" His head cracked against the car and he fell silent. 

They weren't dead, just unconscious but the longer Rogue stood there, looking at the blood on the ground and on her gloves she knew she couldn't let them live. She could take their memories of her but they would still go back to Mexico and would still hunt mutants, or help the group they worked for. 

Rogue thought about killing them with her touch but she didn't want anyone else crowding her mind, no matter how quickly they would fade. Shooting them would create noise, possibly waking the trucker in the semi. Staring at them she choose the next idea. She would snap their necks. 

~

The sound of a speeding car woke Rogue from a restless sleep. She sat up with a jolt, blinking herself awake. Everything rushed back to her, the men and the sounds of their bones cracking.

Canada also came back to her and Rogue felt like kicking herself for going in the complete opposite direction. Even without knowing where they had gone she felt as though she somehow should have figured it out. 

Another car rushed by and she focused on the early morning that surrounded her. She had parked the truck on the side of the road, miles away from the truck stop. Driving as far as she could the night before Rogue had settled on a large shoulder when her eyes began to cross. 

She still had miles ahead to go. 

The sky was already brightening and the days ahead would be long ones. She decided it was a safe enough area to find a store for a new pair of gloves and some hair dye.

The freeway led to a shopping center when the sun reached the highest point in the sky. Rogue parked as close as she could to the store entrance in case she needed to leave suddenly. It likely wouldn't be necessary but the habit wouldn't be broken. Always being prepared was what could save her. 

The trucked beeped when it locked behind her and she shouldered the backpack that held all her money and basic necessities. 

When she found herself alone in New York with rising animosity towards mutants, hiding was the best option. She pulled out all her savings and after a few weeks she pulled out Bobby's too. The money stayed on her always, all cash, the majority of it in twenties and the rest in hundreds. Rogue had conserved as much as she could over the year but she was being even more careful now. She wasn't in danger of running out quite yet but she was dreading the day.

The automatic doors opened and her hands stayed buried in her pockets. She felt naked without gloves when she was surrounded by people and was on edge because of it. 

Every time she interacted with the rest of the world it felt so foreign to her. She could hardly remember what it was like to go out without having to look over your shoulder. Seeing people holding hands or even shaking hands made her feel alien. Separate.

For a long time that feeling ate away at her, making her despise what she was. Someone different even among other mutants. Rogue had even reached normalcy once. The cure, or so it had been thought, had given her a few easy, blissful months. But Storm had always been right. There was nothing wrong with her. There was nothing to fix and so her mutation manifested once again. Rogue decided then that she wouldn't let herself loath it, she would control it and learn to accept it.

But of course she would always be separate.

The only pair of gloves she could find were cheap cotton ones that went only to her wrists. Sighing, Rogue grabbed a few long sleeved shirts to remedy this and purchased everything including dye. When it came time to pay she slid the money across the counter and didn't hold a hand out for change. The cashier set it on the surface and she took it from there. Then she disappeared into the bathroom.

The door didn't have a lock and it held multiple stalls. Rogue waited until it was empty to put up the cleaning sign and shove the trashcan against the door. She didn't bother dying her whole head, the rest of her hair was still black anyway. Instead Rogue worked the dye into the parts that were fading back to white and left it at that. She waited as long as she could before rinsing it and finally leaving. 

Back in the truck she felt more comfortable now with a pair of gloves and her hair black again. She felt so comfortable that she decided to get a room at a nearby hotel. She owed it to herself to sleep in a real bed for a night. 

~

The hotel she choose was a generic, simple one. It boasted of free breakfast that unsurprisingly consisted only of pastries and old coffee but it was heaven to shower and lay in a bed instead of a car or an abandoned building. Rogue even let herself walk down the street to a restaurant for dinner.

She was seated at a table in the corner at her request, leaving the two exits in her sight. The waitress was a nice woman, younger than Rogue but no younger than eighteen. The restaurant was bustling but not quite busy and she ate with relative ease, removing the cheap gloves when her food arrived. 

She was just pulling out some cash for the check when a woman in the opposite corner caught her eye. Rogue gasped aloud to herself, feeling disbelief, shock and then disappointment. The lady was sitting with a man whose face she couldn't see but Rogue wasn't interested in him.

The woman sat comfortably but with elegance. She wore a burgundy blouse that intensified the red of her hair and she smiled at the man. For a moment, a simple single moment Rogue saw Jean sitting there instead of a stranger. 

Shaking her head Rogue left the money on the table and practically ran from the building. 

It wasn't Jean. Jean was dead.

Her mind liked to do that to her occasionally. Trick her into thinking she saw or heard someone who was now gone. In California she had heard Bobby in a crowd. In Oregon it was Storm walking across the street. 

It was like some cruel joke the universe seemed to be playing on her, reminding her that everyone was dead. 

Well, she thought, not quite everyone. 

Laying in bed at the hotel Rogue clung to that. That at least not everyone was gone. Not yet.

In the morning she would be on the road again and this time going the right direction. She hoped beyond hope that she could find them. That somewhere Logan and Xavier were at peace now, safely hidden in the night. Rogue hoped that for them, the running was finally over.


	3. The Mutant

It only took a day and half to get over the boarder. Rogue didn't stop anymore along the way and drove straight up through the Dakotas heading west when she reached Canada. The only place she could think of going was the bar where all this had started. The place she had first met Logan. 

She didn't know if he'd go there. She didn't know if he would remember where it was but she had had this journey mapped out on her bedroom wall since she was a child. Rogue hadn't forgotten the way.

It was colder here. Not by much but at night she needed a jacket to be comfortable. She was able to find longer gloves at a tourist shop and wore them frequently. Rogue drifted from place to place, gradually going west. She was keeping her eyes and ears open for any information so she stopped at restaurants and bars and shops where she thought Logan would go if needed. There wasn't much to go on anymore but she hadn't gone this far to give up.

Logan's mind continued to stay suppressed but it didn't fade anymore. It was a thought she was trying to ignore but the state of his mind was the same as Bobby's. It was an echo but still remaining because she choose to hold onto it.

She had given the girl more thought as well and wondered if she was important to someone else. There was no other reason she could think of as to why Logan would travel with a kid unless she needed help and it wasn't the first time Rogue wondered if they were running because of her. She considered what would make a child so important and then didn't because she knew she wouldn't like the answer. 

Four days after crossing the boarder she paid cash to a barber to cut her hair short. It was something she should have thought of sooner since it lessened the amount of hair she had to dye. Now it rested just above her shoulders.

It was safer to find a different place to sleep each night and she was careful to do so. Sometimes it was a hotel, sometimes it was the car. At one point she heard news of a group of kids seen in the wilderness but nothing of two men with one in a wheel chair. 

When she slept she continued to dream of Bobby and each time she shook frost from her fingertips. Dreaming it was losing him all over again but at the same time she got to hear and see him. She didn't know if she hated or loved the dreams. 

~

It was impossible but it was as if no time had passed. The building they had first seen each other in looked exactly the same. Even the bar was dim and crowded like before. There was no fight going on but when Rogue looked over at the cage she could still hear the shouting of patrons from years ago. There was even still a tip jar on the counter. The only thing missing was snow.

She sat for a long time at the bar with a drink instead of water this time. When she looked down the counter she half expected to see Logan there, cigar in his mouth, eyes on the old T.V.

A loud group of men entered the bar, regulars it seemed from the way the bartender greeted them. They were excited and boasted of game they had hunted together. Rogue didn't pay the large party much attention. Her thoughts were buried in the past. 

After wallowing in her thoughts for some time she began questioning the bartender. 

No he hadn't seen a man in a wheel chair and no he hadn't seen a man matching Logan's description. The only thing he had to say was that two kids had broken in his store room twice in the past week, stealing any food they could find. 

Interest piqued Rogue described the nameless girl to him but he shook his head. "Didn't see 'em. Noticed too late and they were vanishing into the woods by then." He considered her for a moment. "But didn't you say you were looking for two men?"

She asked no more questions after that. It was curious, this group of kids running amok in the wilderness. Maybe they had seen something? It was possible wasn't it?

Rogue sighed and propped her chin up in her hand. She was going to-

The sound of her backpack sliding across the floor made her jump to her feet. A drunken man from the hunting party was stumbling behind her. 

"Oi." He breathed at her. "Sorry luv I'll get it."

"No it's fine I can grab it." She tried to reach past him but he stood in her way. 

The man lumbered over to the bag and mindlessly picked it up. In his state he didn't seem to know up from down and lifted it, spilling some of the contents. Allowing the money to go spilling out. 

Rogue ripped it from his hands, snatched up the stacks that escaped and shoved them away. "Mind your business." She warned harshly and turned to see who else had noticed. 

No one seemed to have paid any mind to what had happened but she didn't want to take any chances. It was time to go.

Outside the sky was dark and filled with clouds. Rogue shouldered the backpack and headed straight for the truck. She hadn't had the option of parking close this time. Apparently it was a popular place.

About twenty feet away she realized someone was following her. Slipping both arms in the straps of the backpack Rogue turned to face her pursuer. 

It was one of the hunters, but not the drunk one. It didn't matter much to her though. One man was nothing to her-

A sound behind her made her turn again, but only slightly. So it was two men. Still nothing to wor-

A third guy appeared along with a fourth. Rogue side stepped trying to keep herself from being surrounded but it was no use. 

She took a breath. She could still take four unless the rest of their group joined them...

In the end she counted eight which she thought was rather ridiculous. What did she look like to them? She couldn't imagine she looked threatening so why all the muscle?

"Why all the muscle guys?" She voiced, turning slowly, waiting for one of them to make a move. "You really gonna split my cash eight ways?" They were clearly here for the money.

One of the men cracked his knuckles. "We always work together."

Rogue scanned each of the men considering her options. "You bathe together too?" 

She dodged the first blow and landed her own immediately after. Eight men weren't impossible to fight off, at least she hoped. As long as they didn't have-

Rogue kicked across the circle that had formed around her and a gun clattered to the ground. She felt a moment of relief before someone smashed their elbow into her head.

The force was teeth rattling. The sight of the men around her vibrated with her eyes. Rogue blinked, narrowly avoiding a kick. Trying to gather her balance and attack at the same time she stumbled forward, latching onto a second gun before it could be pointed at her.

She wrenched his arm up and clocked him in the head with his own weapon. Rogue thought about holding onto it but the odds of it being used against her we're too great. She hurled it into the trees and then blocked a punch, and another.

Rogue kicked and blocked and dodged as best she could. Four guys were on the ground and not moving thanks to her but she was taking hits. 

When the next guy pulled a gun she dove to the side but not quickly enough. The bullet snapped through her thigh and she slammed onto the concrete. She knew her leg was broken and she wouldn't be getting off the ground. 

Gasping, Rogue reached for her gloves. She almost had the left one removed when a boot came slamming down onto her arm. She screamed this time, everything around her growing fuzzy with pain. 

The bones cracked twice and she felt as though her throat was being torn apart. Blinking and gasping she lifted her trembling right hand to her mouth. The glove slipped off, caught in her teeth and this time when the boot came down she reached for it. 

Her hand clenched around the man's ankle and she channeled everything through her touch. The anguish in her body, the anger in her mind. The desire to make it stop, just stop. 

She felt the hunter's mind vanish as he fell down dead beside her. 

There were exclamations. Shouts of disbelief. Rogue could hardly see because blood was running down her face. Something slammed into her back and then her stomach. There was more pain but she didn't know which pain to focus on. 

This was stupid. These men were stupid. She should be protecting herself better. There was no reason she should be finished here. There were reasons she was here. She had to find them and she couldn't give up here because Bobby hadn't given up on her. 

Do you trust me?

Of course.

Then this is how we survive.

A sliver of cold air raced down her back and gathered in her chest. It grew and grew until she felt more cold than pain and then it burst away from her.

For a moment some of the pain stopped. 

"She's a mutant!"

"She fucking killed Greg!"

"Did you see the ice?"

"Burn her then!"

Her eyes opened and blurred shadows greeted her. Two men stood above and everything else was out of sight. Rogue was on her back, her right leg useless. Her left arm unmoving. She stared wonderingly at the orange light that one of them was holding. What was it for?

The answer was on the tip of her tongue but then there was screaming. The men around her were screaming but she wasn't doing anything. 

She felt afraid, hearing the sudden screams. There were shouts. The sounds of slashing and blood splattering. The men above her disappeared and Rogue's eyes were wide as she waited for the reason for the screams to find her. She was listening to the sounds of slaughter and she would be next.

Her breath came in shuddering gasps as she lay helplessly on the ground. She could sense it, someone was coming close. Something was coming close. Rogue readied her right hand to grab at anything she saw. Was it an animal? What if it was a bear? She was surely dead if it was a bear.

But it wasn't a bear. It wasn't an animal. Her eyes fought back blackness but they still saw the girl. The nameless girl from the hotel. 

Something like a sob escaped Rogue. She had found them. They had found her. Without thinking she reached for the girl just to see if she was real. She couldn't lift her arm high enough.

She waited for Logan to appear. To show up after all this time but the girl was alone. Something else came over her then, something terrible. Realization. It was what she had been ignoring all this time.

Rogue stared up at the girl, tears gathering in her eyes. "Where is he?"

The girl said nothing but as everything crashed down around her she thought she heard her whisper softly: "Rogue."

~

The snow crunched beneath her feet, her long coat dragging over the ground. Her hood had fallen away but she hadn't had the time to fix it. They were running.

Logan was ahead of her, leading them through the forest. Through the storm. Snow swirled and battered painlessly against them. Rogue was breathing heavy. She was getting tired.

"Logan." 

He didn't seem to hear her and continued on but of course she knew he must have. He had excellent hearing. 

"Logan!" Louder this time so he knew she meant it.

Logan stopped, snow catching in his hair. He turned to her with question. "What is it kid?"

The question she wanted to ask was one she had been wondering about for a long time. "Why are we still running?"

He gazed at her with unhappy recognition. "Cause that's all that's left."

And then she woke.


	4. Laura

The first thing she was consciously aware of wasn't even her own conscience. Rogue opened her eyes, an instinct telling her to fight but it wasn't her own.

The ceiling above her was wooden and clouded with webs. She lay on a pile of something relatively soft but not soft enough to be a bed. Her hands were exposed and rested on her stomach. There didn't seem to be anyone around.

She tilted her head to gather more of her surroundings and froze. The girl was lying next to her on a pile of hay, eyes closed. Straw was caught in pieces of her dark hair and the shirt she wore had blood on it.

On edge, Rogue scanned the rest of the room, or barn as it appeared to be. She turned her head to focus on the girl when she noticed a teenage boy standing in a doorway on the far side of the barn. He was holding a bowl of something that steamed.

"I thought you would be hungry." He said simply, moving no closer.

She felt dizzy, trying to figure out what was going on. Rogue wanted to back away or attack but none of those things made much sense to her. It was because she wasn't the one who wanted to do either of those things.

"Who touched my skin?" She said, asking the first thing that came into her head. She sat up and then stopped. Her leg had been broken. So had her left arm. Both were now perfectly fine but her jeans were covered in blood and her sleeve coated in dirt.

Anxious and fearful she looked at the boy who stood across from her. "Who touched me?" She breathed, refusing to let herself hope because the mind in her own wasn't the one she had been hoping to find. It was a stranger's mind yet somehow it felt familiar too.

The boy walked towards her slowly and set the bowl on a lopsided crate next to Rogue. "She said she wanted to help you." He said, nodding to the girl next to her. "She heard you screaming before I did."

Rogue was still. She didn't turn to look at the girl. She didn't look at the boy. "She can heal people?" 

Even as it was voiced she knew that wasn't the case. The girl had touched Rogue which meant the girl could heal herself. She had taken down the rest of the hunters. She heard screaming before this boy could.

Shaking, Rogue pressed her fingers against the back of her own hand and arm, feeling the bones. There were two more than usual. She dropped her hands as if they burned. "How- who-"

The boy looked at her with sadness."You were his friend weren't you? I recognize your mutation." He held the bowl out to her. "You'll forgive me for not shaking your hand. I'm Rictor."

Shocked and not knowing what else to do she took the bowl from him. It was warm.

"I don't mind explaining everything to you but I think Laura should tell you some of it herself." He frowned. "If she decides to talk."

Rogue looked at him, confused. "Laura?"

Rictor nodded back to the girl. "I imagine they thought the name they gave her was clever." He shrugged. "Even though they never used it."

"They?" She felt like her mind was lagging far behind. Like it was caught in the storm from her dream.

"The ones who made us." He said with a dark look. "To them we were just numbers. Laura was X-23. I had a number too. "

X. The letter bounced around Rogue's mind. It had meant so many things to her, that simple letter. Usually something good but not always. "As in, the Weapon X Program?"

Rictor nodded.

Rogue said nothing, letting this sink in.

"She'll be alright won't she?" The boy asked nervously. "She held on for a long time."

Rogue turned to look at the girl but she didn't see her. Instead she saw Logan, barely conscious at the top of the Statue of Liberty. "She should be okay." Her voice was a whisper.

Rogue tried to gather her thoughts, handle the emotions that were flitting around inside her and process the ones this girl had unintentionally shared with her. 

"He helped her didn't he?" She traced the extra bones hidden in her arm. Where they would stay.

"He helped all of us."

The girl next to her began to move. Rogue wasn't ready for her to wake up. She wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet.

But nothing ever happened the way you wanted it too and so Laura opened her eyes and sat up.

Rictor crouched next to her. "How do you feel?"

Laura shook her head as if to shake something from it. "Cansada." The girl said quietly.

"Rogue said you will be fine." He told her.

His use of her name made Rogue feel exposed and the girls dark eyes looked at her. They were guarded.

She was beginning to understand why Laura seemed familiar to her but that didn't make it any easier to believe. 

"Why did you help me?" Rogue wasn't happy about Laura healing her but if she hadn't she would be in bad shape. It was also strange to have this mutation again. It was strange that the mind attached to it was different.

Rogue did her best to pull Logan from the depths of her mind and hold him there with her. 

Laura answered quietly. "El esta en tus ojos." 

Spanish was not a language she learned but she now fiercely wished she had.

"He's in your eyes." The girl translated for her. 

Her eyes blinked in shock. Rogue had been thinking the same of her. "That's why you helped me?"

The girl shook her head. 

"Did you know who I was?" 

"Not at first." Rictor said as Laura shook her head again. 

Rogue looked between the two of them. "Then why-"

"You screamed. " Laura said. "You needed help. "

"We realized it was you when one of the guys said you killed someone by just touching them." Rictor shrugged. "And we saw your gloves. One of the nurses would read the comics to us. "

Rogue took a deep breath, taking that in. "Then why did you touch me if you knew who I was?" She looked right at Laura.

Laura stared back. "You needed help."

The simple answer made her irritated. "I could have killed you." Rogue did her best to stress that. "Especially since I wasn't aware of what was going on."

Rictor glanced at Laura as if he agreed.

Laura continued to look into her eyes. "Necesitabas ayuda." She narrowed her dark eyes. "So I helped you."

Rogue recognized the challenge in the girls eyes. She wasn't sure how to voice that she felt like it took some sort of choice away from her. Her mind went to Magneto and Bobby. Even Logan. 

She hadn't wanted their mutations, their minds or the echoes of their personalities. And she didn't want Laura's either. It was too similar and too different.

Unable to find the words Rogue decided to offer a 'thank you' with a warning of never touching her again.

The moment her words died the air felt heavy and oppressive. Her next questions were not so easy to ask. 

She took a shuddering breath. "So how- Where did you meet-"

Laura interrupted her. "Gabriela found him for me."

"One of the nurses who helped us escape." Rictor explained quickly. "He was in Mexico like us."

It made sense after the photo near the boarder. All this time he was in Mexico...

"Había alguien con él." Laura continued. "An old man a chair. He called him Charles."

Rogue watched the bowl of soup when she said this and said nothing.

"They helped me get away. He stopped them from taking me." Laura's eyes were sad but her face looked calm. "The men after us, they killed his friend and they killed Charles."

The bowl blurred before her eyes.

"We ran and found my friends like me. And we were found..." Laura glared. "In the woods..." She fell silent.

Rictor continued for her. "We fought them off, barely. He- Logan, he came to us and helped us fight. We're alive because of him."

"So he's really-" Rogue struggled with saying it aloud.

"He's in the woods." Rictor said with sadness. "In the mountains. We buried him there. "

Buried. Gone. Dead. 

She always thought he'd out live her but here she was, outliving him. 

Her mentor, friend.....family was really gone. The fading of his mind had been the sign but Rogue simply didn't want to believe it. 

And the Professor. Her teacher and her guide was dead. He had been her family too even after what had happened at the school. 

Now she really was alone. The last of the legends who had once saved the world. In the end they hadn't been able to save themselves. 

Suddenly there was a bloody hand on Rogue's knee. "He was glad." Laura told her. "To rest."

The tears spilled over, sliding down her face. "I'm sure he was." Rogue managed to say before the tears made talking impossible. 

Rictor got up and left the barn but Laura stayed and watched Rogue.

"He was my dad." She told Rogue. "I'm sad he's gone too."

A dad. Something she felt Logan would never choose. He'd never want to give someone a life like his, even with the happy times he had found. 

How strange it must've been to find his daughter. A creation he had no involvement in. A result of stolen DNA. How surprising it must have felt. 

Rogue knew a part of him would have felt responsible no matter the circumstances. She knew he had cared even though she was sure he didn't want to. 

She looked at Laura who was still looking at her and was struck with realization. 

Rogue had found Logan once. On accident, not by his choice. He had helped her too, fighting to keep her from being taken. It was how the two of them discovered Charles and the X-men.

Now Rogue had found Laura after he had died doing the same thing. Like it had all been some sort of circle. 

"My friends want to meet you but I told them to wait. "

Drawn from her thoughts Rogue focused on her surroundings again. "The others like you and Rictor?"

Laura nodded. "They are excited."

A part of her felt like rolling her eyes. "Because of the stories?"

"They gave us something to hope for. "

Rouge shook her head. "Everyone is dead. "

The girl shook her head again. "You're not. "

No she wasn't but after learning all of this, what was there left to do?


	5. All That's Left

It was unnerving, the way the other kids regarded her. They were filled with excited curiosity and yet had sad knowing looks in their eyes.

Rictor and Laura introduced her to the group the next morning, giving her a chance to be alone with her grief in the night. It had been restless.

There was an adjoining room to the barn that was low ceilinged but was much wider than the barn itself. When Rogue walked in nine pairs of eyes crashed onto hers. Nine other mutants. Eleven when she counted Laura and Rictor. 

After years and years of mutants vanishing and new mutants not being born she had stumbled on eleven. Made to be weapons or assassins but here they were, seeking a life of their own and not the ones they had been forced into.

It made her angry. They had no bright future anywhere they went. They had no chance of living freely like she had when she was younger. 

There was no Department of Mutant Affairs anywhere. What little rights mutants had were not enforced or upheld. It was rare to find a human willing to help or hire a mutant, and for those who could hide it were fired and left with nothing if they were found out. Sometimes it was worse than that.

These kids had no one to help them control and strengthen their mutations beyond what they'd learned in whatever cold and unfeeling lab they'd been created in.

"Everyone is dead."

"You're not."

Rogue stopped the thought before it could take any more shape. She'd never been an avid teacher like Kitty or Storm. She had assisted them at times but never took on the total role of a mentor.

The kids told her that they all had their own names. Some the lab had given them and some the nurses had given them in secret. 

Rogue had high respect for the women who had helped them escape. Such acts were rare these days.

Along with their names they told her their abilities. 

Rictor had seismic abilities. The powers he described to her reminded Rogue of someone the X-Men had once crossed paths with years ago.

When a young teenager named Mira began describing her mutation Rogue's heart skipped a beat for just a moment. The girl could temporarily weaken and paralyze others by touching them but she could 'turn off' the ability and didn't get any part of the person's psyche when she touched them.

Though they weren't the same Rogue found herself searching the girls features for any similarities to herself. She didn't see any. 

She felt her heart skip again when a boy with powers of electricity said his name was Bobby. He smiled at her and Rogue did her best to smile back. 

The rest carried on, most eager to talk to her while a few others were quiet or a little withdrawn.

By the end Rogue felt overwhelmed and didn't know what to say. This hadn't been apart of her plan. She never expected something like this. 

She manged to offer a few words before making her way outside so she could think. 

If she hadn't found these kids what would she have done after realizing Logan and Xavier were gone? Gone back to drifting place to place hoping her dwindling funds would somehow last her? Try to find a job somewhere in a secluded area? Fade back into the background?

Rogue let out a frustrated puff of air. All of those things sounded dull, constricting and lifeless. 

The dream she had of Logan and the woods came back to her. Running really was all that was left for mutants. Running and hiding but that wasn't living. Where was the worth? Where was the happiness? They couldn't afford happiness in a world that would destroy it in an instant. But without happiness were you really living?

She found this group of kids. These fellow mutants. She knew they couldn't stay in this barn forever and she knew they needed more help. But did she have the courage to do what she wanted after doing what she needed for so long to survive?

Rogue scanned the trees around her and paused her thoughts. No, she knew where she would go if she hadn't found them. The last place of rumored freedom. She would have gone just to prove her hopes wrong. 

A shift on the wooden platform told her that she wasn't alone. From the corner of her eye Rogue saw Laura come into view. 

Her mutation had almost faded away. Rogue no longer had extra bones in her arms but she knew that while immensely slowed, the healing part had yet to completely vanish. Yet even with the fading of the mutation Laura's mind remained with an intense firmness, pushing against Rogue often. It was hard to ignore.

"I met him here." She surprised herself by speaking. Rogue gazed in the direction she thought the bar was in. "Years ago." She glanced at Laura. "He was born here, in Canada. He told me that once..." 

Laura watched her closely. "He helped you too."

Rogue nodded. "He helped a lot of people. "

Laura turned to look out at the trees. "He said he hurt people."

It was quiet for a while between the two of them. They both watched the trees, too aware and curious about the other to risk a question. 

She considered what Laura had said. Rogue had hurt people but when she expressed such things she meant it more about the people she loved, not always those she had to fight. Getting close to someone meant putting them at risk. To herself. To her mutation. To her enemies.

"He did hurt people." She finally said. "Horrible people mostly, but I think he was also talking about the people he cared about."

Laura nodded. "Bad shit happens." 

Rogue glanced at her unexpectedly but after a moment she didn't feel surprised. 

The girl sighed. "He wasn't very nice but I understand." She turned her dark eyes onto Rogue's. "He did care and that made him afraid."

The trees filled Rogue's eyes again as she looked away from Laura. So was she.

~

Rogue spent the rest of the day surrounded by the group as they told her about the stories from the comics.

They told her of villains she fought that she had never heard of, and some that she had. She did her best to not interrupt or express how ridiculous some of the stories seemed. 

In their minds the stories were exciting and real. Of course she saw the stories differently.

She didn't mind hearing about the other mutants the stories featured -often times more than herself- but when they began asking her for the real stories Rogue had a hard time.

She began to explain how she and Logan met but the moment she thought of the conversation they had had in his trailer her voice wouldn't work.

After moments of silence from her, the others drifted off leaving her in her memories.

The last time she had seen Logan was on her birthday a little more than a year ago. 

Rogue knew Logan didn't like birthdays and that he didn't partake in celebrations at Xavier's house. He had told her once that they felt like cruel reminders of how lost in time he was. Of how he wouldn't age and die but rather watch those around him age and die instead.

She had reminded him then, that birthdays were celebrations of life being lived, not years being lost.

It was very, very rare that he attended any birthday events for those he knew at the school but he always came for hers.

Rogue had been sitting on the first story stairs, taking a moment away from the party. The students were asleep, only the adults remained awake though the Professor had retired rather early. She was just beginning to wonder if he was feeling okay when the front door opened.

It was a cold night and the air blew in with whoever had arrived, raising goosebumps on her arms. Chilly, Rogue stood to see who it was.

Logan stood in the doorway looking worn from whatever road he'd traveled to make it here. He appeared much more tired than usual but Rogue hardly noticed.

She smiled and rushed to hug him. They didn't see each other a lot because he always ventured away but every time that they did it felt like not a day had past.

He laughed at her enthusiasm when she hugged him. "Did you think I forgot?"

Rogue couldn't help grinning. "Maybe a little." She broke their embrace.

"I'm assuming everyone is already here?" Logan asked with an air of sarcasm. He knew he was the last to arrive.

Rogue nodded. "They'll love seeing you." She paused before continuing. "I've missed you Logan."

He gave her a solemn look, that she hadn't understood at the time. "I missed you too kid." He said although she was far beyond the years of a teenager and would one day look much older than him.

~

"Rogue. Rogue? Rogue!"

Rogue jumped awake, feeling pieces of straw stab into her back. "What's wrong?" She asked bleary eyed. 

Laura was standing above her while Rogue was sprawled on her back. She gathered that she must have fallen asleep shortly after the kids left her on her own. She had practically buried herself in hay.

Laura mumbled something quickly in Spanish and Rogue blinked, searching what little knowledge she had of the language with hopes of understanding. 

The girl sighed with what Rogue interpreted as impatience. "Dinner." She said and walked away.

Rogue was stuck staring after her for a moment before she shook herself from the memory she had dreamed of. Whatever had been making Logan age and vulnerable had started before her birthday. But she hadn't noticed that night and then he had left again and she and Bobby had gone on their mission...

Raising from the hay Rogue left those thoughts for another time and headed into the main barn. 

The others were there, crowded around four boxes of pizza. She found the sight a bit comical but no one else seemed to. They were all eating what they could get their hands on. She hung back in the doorway.

"Are you going to eat Rogue?" A boy named Jonah asked her. If she recalled correctly he had the uncanny ability to take control over others. 

At his question they took notice of her. Rogue shook her head. "I'm not hungry right now, you guys go ahead."

They didn't need much urging to continue.

"You're planning on getting your own food." Rictor said at a volume only she- and most likely Laura- could hear. 

"I don't want to take what you have. I can manage on my own I just wish...." She hesitated. Across the room she felt Laura's eyes on her face. "I wish there was something I could do to help but I don't have enough money-"

Rictor laughed to himself. "You don't need money to help us."

She glanced at him. "Maybe, but it doesn't hurt. How have you guys been living out here?"

Rictor explained to her that they had been moving place to place since crossing the boarder but this was the longest they had stayed somewhere.

He told her that they were tired and for the moment they liked it here. They were careful but knew their stealing didn't go unnoticed. All they wanted was a place to stay.

"You can't stay here forever." Rogue told him but she didn't keep her voice low anymore. "This is someone's barn," She gestured to the supplies that while dusty, were not damaged or rusted. "They'll come back to it eventually."

"We didn't have a lot of time to think about where we were going." Tamera, a girl with heightened strength said between bites of pizza.

Rogue nodded with understanding but continued on. "You were chased here and you may not be hunted right now but the people who were know that you are here somewhere and that puts you in danger."

Bobby frowned. "But they haven't come after us."

"You don't know that they aren't planning to." Rogue warned.

"Then what should we do?" Rictor asked. "What other options do we have?"

Building a life somewhere safe. But where was safe?

"He wanted to live on a boat." Laura suddenly said from the back of the room.

Rogue glanced at her quickly. "Logan did?"

The girl nodded.

"I...I don't know anything about boats." Rogue frowned, her mind working swiftly. "And theres too many of you and boats aren't cheap. Especially if we wanted to stay on the water all the time."

"Is there really no safe place?" Bobby asked, reaching for more pizza.

A safe place.

The rumor...oddly enough the safe place was said to be in America. But Rogue had never believed it, telling herself it was most likely a trap of some kind. 

Nowhere was safe. She had ran so much because of that. But...what choice did she have now? There were so many of them here.

She wasn't a teacher but she could run and hide.

Maybe they could go live in the wilderness somewhere. Maybe they could build a shelter and figure out food on their own but how long would that take? And would it last? 

But if there already was a safe place for mutants...somewhere they could all go now...

Rogue sighed deeply, feeling the eyes on her face. If she didn't go she would always wonder. If she didn't go she wasn't being fair to herself or to them.

At least check it out...

"There is a place rumored to be safe for mutants. It doesn't have a name." Rogue had already made up her mind but the moment she spoke she wondered if she should have told them. The hope that flickered on their faces stunned her. "I will go and check it out."

Rogue looked at Rictor seriously. "And if it turns out to be a lie or something else then you're-

No. Not just them.

"We're going to have to build a place of our own. "

The barn was quiet.

"You shouldn't go alone." Rictor pointed out."

Rogue shrugged. "We can't take everyone if we don't even know if it's real."

"Of course not." The teen agreed. "But you should go with some-"

Laura crossed the room. "I'll go. You're going to need help."

Rogue looked from Laura to Rictor and back again. The fierce determination in her eyes would be impossible to sway. There was no changing Laura's decision and the wave of agreement from Laura's mind in Rogue's was all the confirmation she needed.

"Alright." She said.

Rictor grinned. "So where are you going?"

Rogue hoped her doubts would be proven wrong and that she wasn't about to risk her life and Laura's for nothing on the long road ahead. "New Orleans."


End file.
